I suppose everyone remembers their first mortar attack. I remember parts of
mine. My good friend, Barb, had finally talked me into singing with a group that
sang around Dong Tam by countering my argument of, "Well, if you get me drunk enough………." I'm pretty sure every guy in there bought me a drink and pinched my ass, so,
by the time I got back to the hooch it was past curfew, I was way past drunk and
Donut 6 was waiting with the appropriate lecture which I don't exactly remember
but am sure I listened to contritely, made the appropriate apologies, then went
to my room and promptly passed out. In Dong Tam, when there was a mortar attack, certain rituals occurred. First,
an obnoxiously loud siren went off. Next, the MP who guarded our gate stopped at
each woman's door and knocked……just in case we had missed the blaring siren. On this particular night, I remained passed out through both of those
occurrences and awoke to Donut 6 screaming, at the top of her lungs, something
like: "FOR GOD'S SAKE GET OUT OF THERE BEFORE WE BOTH DIE." Even in my drunken stupor, that sounded pretty serious…….particularly
screamed in that tone……..but my mind was so foggy…….and it was so hot……….and
I was so nude……… OK……..just throw the poncho liner around you and get the hell out of here……….which
I did…….and ran staggering toward the door………..but ended up on the
floor bare ass to concrete……….somehow in my confused state I had failed to
remember that I had tied that slippery poncho liner to my bed to keep it from
sliding off. "GET OUT OF THERE!!! WE'RE BEING MORTARED!!!" Well, that would explain all those explosions I keep hearing. "I'M COMING………I'M COMING!!!" Actually, that was a lie. I was still sitting on the floor trying to untie
the damned poncho liner. Modesty had not yet been abandoned. After finally succeeding, I made another grand dash to the door………..only
to discover that, for the first and only time I was in Nam………I had locked
the door. (Where the hell did I put the key?) "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT WE CAN BOTH DIE HERE. GET TO THE BUNKER
NOW!!!" "I'M HURRYING. I SWEAR………I'M HURRYING" (Dear, Lord, please help me find the key) By the time we made it to the bunker, I had sobered up enough to realize that
this was, indeed, dangerous. One round had landed in the ditch next to our
hooch, so the fact that Donut 6 and I were still alive and uninjured was only by
the grace of God………and it was really pretty frightening sitting in that
bunker listening to the mortars falling around us. I said to no one in particular, "I forgot my cigarettes." If looks could kill, Donut 6 would have done to me what the mortars hadn't. "But I guess I don't need one right now." The day after the attack was the only time I ever asked for statistics…….120
rounds………89 killed……. including guys going home the next day…….now
in coffins……… emily strange |